SANTO DOMINGO, Sept. 30, 2026 | Haiti and the Dominican Republic meet tomorrow night in a Concacaf Nations League A match that is tight on the table and loaded with politics off the pitch. The game is at Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez, and kickoff is listed for 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, Oct. 1. In some time zones, including the UK, it falls early on Oct. 2. Check Concacaf’s match page for the final local time.

What’s at stake tomorrow

Both sides have won their first two games and sit level on six points in the group. Haiti, now coached by Spaniard David Badía, who took charge after the 2026 World Cup and has no previous experience coaching a national team, beat Trinidad and Tobago and then won 2-0 against Costa Rica. Badía replaced Sébastien Migné, whose contract the federation ended in July, weeks after he led Haiti to the World Cup for the first time in 52 years. The Grenadiers come in fresh from that historic return to the tournament.

The Dominican Republic has been winning at home and away: a 3-2 home win over Nicaragua on Sept. 25 and a 2-1 win away at Trinidad and Tobago on Sept. 28. Mariano Díaz has scored twice for the hosts. One preview calls the game a 1-1 draw, noting that the Dominicans are unbeaten in their last 15 home internationals. Another tips a Haitian win. Lineups and injury news will be confirmed closer to kickoff.

The history is lopsided in Haiti’s favor. The record in this rivalry is an 8-0 Haitian win in Santo Domingo in 1967. But the Dominican Republic, ranked 144th by FIFA, is now a first-time League A participant and has closed the gap in recent years.

Border policy: a hard line, with a trade component

Football is played in a tense political setting. The Dominican Republic has built much of its Haiti policy around border control:

  • The wall. Construction of a border wall began under President Luis Abinader. About 54 km had been completed by April 2025, with another 13 km ordered.
  • Deportations. Abinader has pledged to round up 10,000 Haitians every week, and humanitarian groups have urged a halt. About 200,000 have been deported to Haiti.
  • Closures. The country last fully closed the border in 2021 after Jovenel Moïse’s assassination and again in 2023 during a dispute over a canal on a shared river.
  • The “economic wall.” In February 2026, Abinader announced a network of dry ports along the border, a private investment of more than $300 million under a free trade zone regime, which he said would revive border provinces, formalize trade with Haiti and end smuggling networks.

Haitian and Dominican officials say they want cooperation on security. Critics in Haiti and among human rights advocates say the enforcement has been heavy-handed toward ordinary migrants. Fans traveling for the match should check the latest entry requirements.

The Dominican entry-ban list

The Dominican Republic has also restricted entry for a long list of Haitians. These are not financial sanctions like those from the U.S., Canada or the UN. They are presidential entry bans. In April 2023, President Abinader sent the director general of immigration a list of 39 Haitians from political sectors, finance and gangs, with instructions not to admit them. That brought the total to 52 after a first list in September 2022 that named former Prime Minister Claude Joseph and 12 gang leaders.

Names below follow published reporting, and spellings vary. An entry ban is an administrative decision, not a conviction, and several people named deny wrongdoing. Claude Joseph, for one, called his inclusion a scandalous decision and said he was not under investigation for any crime in Haiti.

Former politicians, ministers and officials

  • Claude Joseph (former prime minister and acting president)
  • Youri Latortue (former senator)
  • Gracia Delva (former senator)
  • Liszt Quitel (former acting minister of justice)
  • Bredy Charlot (minister of agriculture at the time of the list)
  • Kesner Normil (acting mayor of Pétion-Ville at the time)
  • Evans Paul (former prime minister)
  • Jean Tholbert Alexis (former ambassador to the DR and former president of the Chamber of Deputies)
  • Victor Prophane (former deputy)
  • Laurent Salvador Lamothe (former prime minister)
  • Richard Lenine Hervé Fourcand (former senator)
  • Rony Célestin (senator at the time, later described as former)
  • Gary Bodeau (former deputy and former president of the lower house)
  • Arnel Bélizaire (former deputy)
  • Nénel Cassy (former senator)
  • Berto Dorcé (former minister of justice)
  • Antonio Chéramy, alias “Don Kato” (former senator)
  • Romel Bell (former director general of customs)

Business elites, financial and legal figures

  • Rodolphe Jaar (Haitian-Chilean businessman)
  • Charles Saint-Rémy, alias “Kiko” (businessman and brother-in-law of former President Michel Martelly)
  • Sherif Abdallah (businessman)
  • Reynold Deeb (businessman)
  • Salim Succar (lawyer)
  • Steve Khawly (agribusiness entrepreneur)
  • Dieuné Day (no description given in the source)

Prominent gang leaders and security threats

  • Jimmy Chérizier, alias “Barbecue” (G9)
  • Vitel’homme Innocent, alias “Vitelom” (Kraze Baryè/Torcelle)
  • Destina Renel, alias “Ti Lapli” (Grand Ravine)
  • Wilson Joseph, alias “Lanmo San Jou” (400 Mawozo)
  • Claudy Célestin, alias “Chen Mechan”
  • Alexandre Ezekiel, alias “Ze” (Baz Pilat)
  • Kempes Sanon (Baz Bel-Air)
  • Chéry Christ-Roi, alias “Chris-La”
  • Félix Monel, alias “Mikano” (Wharf Jérémie)
  • Jean Pierre Gabriel, alias “Ti Gabriel” (G-Pèp)
  • Alexis Serge Renel, alias “Ti Junior” (Baz Delmas)
  • Orlichen Emile, alias “Pè Lebren” (Baz Delmas)
  • Johnson André, alias “Izo” (5 Segonn)
  • Emanuel Salomon, alias “Mano”
  • Joselito Petit-Homme, alias “Ti Makak”
  • Carlo Petit-Homme, alias “Ti Makak”
  • Luckson Elan (Gran Grif)
  • Jermaine Stephenson, alias “Gaspiyay” (400 Mawozo)
  • Albert Steeven, alias “Djouma” (Simon Pelé, Cité Soleil; spelled “Stevenson” and “Djourna” in the source)
  • Julmé Ernst, alias “Jeneral Ti Greg” (former police officer)
  • Woodly Ethéart, alias “Sonson La Familia”
  • Wakin Pierre (police inspector arrested over ammunition trafficking)

Civil society, activists and clergy (also on the list, and the most debated inclusions)

  • Espérance Pierre (RNDDH human rights network)
  • Assad Volcy (activist and journalist)
  • Father Frantz Cole (former Episcopal Church executive secretary)
  • Father Jean Mardoché Vil (former Episcopal Church president)
  • Fritz Désiré (school director and former Episcopal Church committee president)

What it means

Many names on the list overlap with those sanctioned by Canada and the United States, but the Dominican measure works differently: it blocks entry, and it came with limited public detail on the reasoning behind individual inclusions. The inclusion of a human rights defender, a journalist and a former prime minister has drawn criticism as politically motivated, while supporters say the measure is a narrow security tool against people linked to gangs and corruption.

On Thursday night, most attention will turn to the football. But the match comes at a moment when two neighbors are negotiating trade, security and migration, and the outcome of those talks will matter for many more people than the result in Santo Domingo.

Haiti Politic will follow the match and the border story.